#BookTok for "Gum In Her Hair"

I set up a TikTok account to promote my books. To promote Gum In Her Hair the latest book featuring my detective,  Tom Linquist, I came up with an idea that combines different ideas:

• The Silver Shamrock countdown from Halloween III: Season of The Witch.

• Gum is set late in October, from the 26th to the 31st, ending on November 1st.

And so...

Hitting upon the idea belatedly, with 28 days to go, but beginning in earnest with 26 days to go, I devote 2 posts a day to this task: one post uses the audio from the commercial ("The clock is ticking! It's almost time!"), the other using selections from a playlist of songs I thought evoked/invoked scenes from the book, along with some spoiler-free commentary. This Tiktok endeavor wasn't a calculated,  engineered effort, but the playlist was part of the writing process, similar to Baroness Sells Books, the first book in the series; the idea of a "Needle-drop Playlist" began with that book, and continues here; will it continue in a 3rd book? Maybe. 

I found that counting down the days to the 31st has resulted in expanding the playlist for Gum to include songs hinted at in the manuscript that I have yet to include in the playlist on my YouTube channel; some songs on the list are from film soundtracks that are not available on TikTok, so I have to use alternative picks, like the themes to Newhart and Baywatch, the reasons for which give me some commentary to add to the posts. The posts can't be too lengthy, either; we're talking maybe 2 seconds of exposure per post, at maximum, and that's being optimistic. I do have other ideas for promoting the book, but for now, I'm sticking with the countdown... a "countdown" to shop for a Halloween-themed mystery... and when Halloween ends, but the book is still available, it becomes a book aimed at audiences who leave their Halloween decor out to mix with their Christmas decor as part of The Nightmare Before Christmas. And after that, it just becomes part of a building library of installments of these Maigret-sized mystey novels, The Tom Lingquist Mysteries, of which the 3rd book is in the early stages. And then Summerween rolls in...

And it really is a Halloween-themed mystery, in a way that goes beyond costumes, decorations, parties and candy, although that stuff is in there. 

And that's my latest adventure. I have a big announcement coming soon, but that's all I can say right now, except...

Gum In Her Hair: A Tom Lingquist Mystery, by Joseph Adorno, is available anywhere books are sold online, in ebook, paperback and hardcover. You can click on the links provided above in the highlighted text of this post or visit either Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com or other online booksellers to buy it today.

What Would James Bond Really Listen To On Spotify?

From King Zero:

I'm craving gummi sharks, now:

Ah, an "#iseewhatyoudidthere" inside joke. 

Let's try imagining a playlist that doesn't include people who sang the title songs for the  films:

Okay. :-)

Gum In Her Hair: A Tom Lingquist Mystery

He's back! Tom Lingquist - part-time movie theater employee, full-time Private Investigator, with a new mystery, currently available in paperback and ebook format, with the hardcover volume coming soon. It's currently available anywhere books are sold online, like Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you prefer to check it out from your local library, you may, but if they don't have it in stock or on order, you'll simply have to request it - most public libraries like carrying books they know people want to read, unless it's a book not offered by the distributor; all of my books are available for them to order via Ingram, Hoopla and Overdrive.

So, what's it about?

What's not in the description that I left for the readers to discover is that I devote some time to unveil elements of Tom's personal life. Characters introduced in the first book, Baroness Sells Books, - Alex, Mike, Grimmer, Bailey, Vanessa, L.T. - return in this one. You'll also be introduced to new characters, like Grace, Pia, Tara, Lisa,  Vivian, Tony, Christine and Elizabeth. Characters who played key roles in Baroness Sells Books - Melody, Esther, Rob - get mentioned in a coda of sorts. The events in this new book take place during the same year as the first one, roughly 8 months later, in time for Halloween, available to own on Summerween. 

Also available is a re-release of my Urban Fantasy novella, As She Wishes . Frequent visitors to the blog might recall this title, when it premiered as an ebook in 2014. 

        Cover to the hardcover edition.

        Cover to the paperback edition.

I've given it a new cover for its debut in paperback and hardcover. It is also available to purchase at Barnes and Noble online. Purchasing any of my books in hardcover or paperback at Barnes and Noble's website allows you the option of picking up your copy at any of their brick-and-mortar locations. And yes, if you prefer to check it out at your local library, it is available for them to put on order upon request, if they have not done so.

So click on the links and give either or both books a try. Happy reading!

Make A Promise, Keep A Promise/Promises Made, Promises Kept

#MakeAPromiseKeepAPromise

#PromisesMadePromisesKept

Tom Lingquist...is returning.

"TO THE LIBRARY!"

    Technically, it would be at the library

    across from this location; kinda ironic

    that the most iconic location for a 

    library is more like a museum..

I've achieved 2 new goals in getting my first mystery novel published: the hardcover edition is now available as a traditional, clothbound hardcover with dust jacket.

                    The Back Cover.

This edition is not just available to order at Amazon..it's also available for libraries to stock on their shelves. If you haven't given my book a try because it's not available at the public library to borrow, that's not a problem; simply ask your librarian to order a copy - it is available through Ingram, the main distribution company that libraries order books from to fill and update their shelves with new books; most libraries have a "Suggest a book"/"Recommend a book"/"Request a book" form on the homepage of their website; requesting this book will also help other readers of mystery and detective fiction find the debut of a new series to read:

The ISBN for Baroness Sells Books (ISBN-13: 9798295816307) helps the library sort through thousands of entries in the catalog. Once they order it, you'll only need your library card..

I'll end this with an excerpt from the new hardcover edition of Baroness Sells Books: A Tom Lingquist Mystery by Joseph Adorno :

"Baroness Sells Books" UPDATE

New year, new and improved cover for Baroness Sells Books: A Tom Lingquist Mystery, available only at Amazon:

   

              The cover to the 

   Hardcover & Paperback editions.    

    Cover to the Ebook on Kindle.

You may recall, my first attempt was to have the cover be the cover of Baroness Holly, the novel written by the unfortunate first-time author, part-time movie theater employee, Adrian Hernandez: 

The Ebook cover used a simple black-and-red design, a riff on having a character named Baroness:

    This one's for the G.I. Joe fans.

The next attempt is what I call the grainy photograph cover. It's supposed to be an image of Melody Valle, one of the characters in the book. My issue with it was that I could never get it to look sharp enough without making it more grainy. Another problem, similar to the Barones Holly gimmick cover, is that it could be confused with being erotica, rather than a private eye novel.

                 Melody Valle.

One thing that stuck around after that iteration was the design and colors I used for the titles.

         Almost there. Nice try.

And here we are. For the first time, the movie theater setting at the heart of the book gets it's turn on the cover, while the initial illustrated Baroness Holly novel-as-the-cover concept gets to stay in there. The debut of part-time movie theater employee, full-time private eye Tom Lingquist now has a cover that's a keeper. I'm sticking with this one. Once again, it's only available at Amazon

Kudos...Meme-made Kudos

How nice to see accolades about my book:

;)